Can ONE Championship Ride the Digital Wave to Domination? CEO Chatri Sityodtong says the content is tailored for mobile devices' and has 2 billion fans By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director
Tuesday, April 3, 2018 - 11:21 am
Print This Story
Story Highlights
The UFC may be the first thing that comes to mind in the U.S. when it comes to mixed martial arts (or MMA). But Chatri Sityodtong, founder/CEO, ONE Championship, makes clear that his goal is to combat that perception and become not only the dominant MMA brand globally but also the dominant sports brand globally, especially given that 80% of its fans are millennials.
To watch an entire EPL, NBA, or NFL game on a mobile device is impossible. Our events may be four hours long, but 70% of fights end within 3 minutes, says Sityodtong. It is exciting content that is tailored for mobile devices and an estimated 2 billion fans around the world.
ONE Championship's Chatri Sityodtong spoke at the recent Sportel Asia in Singapore.
For many people in the U.S., the dominance of the UFC as a cultural stakeholder has warped the perception of mixed martial arts. ONE Championship's focus is on MMA disciplines like karate, muay thai, kung fu, and judo. Each discipline resonates deeply in at least one region of Asia, and, collectively, they give ONE Championship cultural relevance across Asia and with MMA fans around the globe.
Sityodtong sees the UFC in stark contrast to ONE Championship. It's like Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker, he explains. UFC is focused on selling fights, violence, blood sport, and antagonism and hatred, while we are focused on building and unleashing real-life heroes who ignite the world of hope, strength, and dreams. It is a very different approach and very different DNA, and I think it comes with the fact that I am a lifelong martial artist, which results in a much different approach than if I was purely a business man.
The rise of mobile devices, he adds, has been a key driver for ONE Championship.
Social media has really propelled us: everything is transparent, and it either resonates or it doesn't, he explains. We have amazing heroes and technology platform and a virtuous cycle that would not have been possible without technology.
ONE Championship's media presence includes a mix of free-to-air television, cable, and $9.99 event live streams. The company says it now has a broadcast footprint in 118 countries and its social-media video views have topped 2.6 billion. And it now has dedicated teams to deliver content to YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter as well as to seven offices across Asia.
We have a big competitive advantage in Asia against the global sports properties: we have local content with local relevance and yet global appeal, he points out. Our local offices are engaged culturally, and we understand the sensitivities as Asian countries are all different when it comes to type of government, history, customs, and culture. And they may only be an hour apart.
Along with the launch of a new app later this year, the ONE Championship technical team's R&D department is experimenting with AR and VR.
We are a technology-content company as much as we are a sports-media property, he adds. We have a full army of engineers in India focused on technology, as it is a vital part of our strategy as a company.
We are the number-one sport in Asia, he continues. We celebrate Asia's greatest cultural treasure, Asian values, and Asian heroes on a global stage. And, by all metrics, we will be ahead of F1 by the end of the year.
His mention of F1 is fitting: his goal is to propel ONE Championship into the valuation realm of global sports brands.
Every region has several billion-dollar sports properties, and Asia has nothing, he says. The NFL has a market cap of $75 billion, and it is a single-country sport. Here in Asia, we have 4.4 billion people. And martial arts is Asia, and Asia is martial sports. It is something that is scalable and can make it the most valuable sports property in the world. It's not impossible.
Most recent headlines
16/12/2025
Hawkins has landed on Spotify, just in time for Stranger Things Season 5, Volume...
16/12/2025
Wherever you are, your favorite music and audio content should go seamlessly with you. That's why Spotify has partnered with NAVER Corp, Korea's leading...
16/12/2025
2025 Wrapped arrived bigger and bolder than ever. This year's experience is designed to be ultra personal and shareable, with new features like Wrapped Part...
16/12/2025
Three 12-kilowatt Advanced Electric Propulsion System thrusters, supplied by L3Harris Technologies, form the core of Gateway's propulsion system. Pictured i...
16/12/2025
The challenge facing America's defense industrial base is not just about speed - its about rebuilding the foundation that makes speed possible. Our nations ...
16/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
16/12/2025
SEVILLE, Spain Canal Sur, the public broadcasting service for Andalusia, Spain, has completed a total technology refresh based on Pebble's resilient, softwa...
16/12/2025
NEW YORK Teleprompting hardware provider Telescript International has acquired all software code and intellectual property previously owned by Telescript West. ...
16/12/2025
As cable operators face increased competition from 5G fixed wireless access providers, a new report from Ookla Research finds that T-Mobile is the FWA speed lea...
16/12/2025
Apple has announced a major upgrade to the Apple TV app for device owners outside the Apple ecosystem with news that the Apple TV app for Android now supports G...
16/12/2025
Space42 grows Direct-to-Device partner ecosystem through a Memorandum of Underst...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON Announces Release Date for Full Year and Fourth Quarter 2025 R...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON's Kyivstar Invests in Renewable Energy in Ukraine with Acq...
16/12/2025
Back to All News
Emma Appleton, Fares Fares, Frida Gustavsson and Jakob Oftebro...
16/12/2025
Back to All News
Docu-reality My Korean Boyfriend Gets a Trailer and Premiere D...
16/12/2025
Harmonic's XOS Advanced Media Processor Improves Streaming Video Quality and Boosts Viewer Engagement SAN JOSE, Calif. - Dec. 16, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: ...
16/12/2025
RT Sport Awards 2025 live on RT One and RT Player at 8:05pm on Saturday 20 December.
On Saturday 20 December live on RT One and RT Player at the earlier t...
16/12/2025
Singer -songwriter Brian Kennedy has been announced as the final celebrity dance...
15/12/2025
Harlem Globetrotters Celebrate 100th Anniversary With New Brand Campaign From Th...
15/12/2025
Top L-R: La Tierra Del Valor (The Home of the Brave), Mangittatuarjuk (The Gnawe...
15/12/2025
L3Harris will leverage 15 years of experience supporting the E-4B Nightwatch and...
15/12/2025
CONWAY, Ark. In a notable example of how the loss of federal funding is forcing public stations to make massive cuts and operational changes, the statewide pub...
15/12/2025
BOULDER, Colo. Public Media Venture Group (PMVG), Venture Technologies Group (VTG), and WQED have completed a multipart agreement that they say will significant...
15/12/2025
Cape Town, November 13, 2025 - SES and International artist and humanitarian, Fo...
15/12/2025
Luxembourg, December 15, 2025 - SES, a leading space solutions company, and Abra Group launched fast and reliable multi-orbit inflight connectivity service on t...
15/12/2025
How Rivian s Design Puts Drivers First-And Why That Matters Published on Dec 15, 2025 Categories: Business Solutions
LinkedIn Corporate Communications
Sha...
15/12/2025
Space42 and Cobham Satcom completed the full range of advanced terminals for the...
15/12/2025
15 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan Delivers First Starlink Direct to Cel...
15/12/2025
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor finds himself the topic of year's cracker jokes
Oasis, David Harbour, Celebrity Traitors and Angela Rayner all feature in this y...
15/12/2025
Comscore Expands Cross-Platform Campaign Measurement to Include Audio and Social New capabilities strengthen cross-platform campaign reporting suite; CCR rebran...
15/12/2025
NVIDIA today announced it has acquired SchedMD - the leading developer of Slurm, an open-source workload management system for high-performance computing (HPC) ...
15/12/2025
RT .ie has reached one billion page views this year and is on track to finish 2025 2% ahead of last year. Average time spent on the site is up 3% on 2024, with ...
15/12/2025
Modern workflows showcase the endless possibilities of generative and agentic AI on PCs.
Of many, some examples include tuning a chatbot to handle product-supp...
13/12/2025
Powering Client Growth: Horizon Deepens Nielsen Partnership, Enabling More Effic...
13/12/2025
In a move that will help it offer more flexible and less costly programming options, YouTube TV has announced that it will be launching YouTube TV Plans with mo...
13/12/2025
SINGAPORE Magna Systems has designed, built and completed what is believed to be the first full UHD and IP-based OB truck in Southeast Asia for a Singapore medi...
12/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Everything You Need to Know for Next Week's Big Sho...
12/12/2025
Hailey Gates at the Atropia premiere (photo by George Pimentel / Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)...
12/12/2025
Last month, Spotify announced a new collaboration with the ATP Tour, the global governing body of men's professional tennis, aimed at bringing the next gene...
12/12/2025
CONWAY, Ark. In a notable example of how the elimination of Federal federal funding is forcing public stations to make massive cuts and changes in the way they...
12/12/2025
Wisycom and DPA Microphones announce the appointment of Ren Moerch as Group Product Director, Wireless, a strategic leadership role that will guide the combine...
12/12/2025
SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, in conjuncture with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the Entertainment Technolog...
12/12/2025
Keepit, the vendor-independent, cloud-native data protection provider, today announced a strategic go-to-market relationship in Poland with Ingram Micro, a lead...
12/12/2025
Atomos announced the immediate availability of a new firmware update for its Ninja TX GO and Ninja TX monitor-recorders, unlocking Open Gate 48P RAW recording w...
12/12/2025
Professional Wireless Systems (PWS) once again played a critical role in delivering flawless wireless coordination and support at the 2025 Latin Grammy Awards a...
12/12/2025
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), together with the Video Services Forum (VSF), the Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) and the European Broadc...
12/12/2025
DHD audio will demonstrate the latest additions to its range of digital audio production solutions on Booth 321 in Hall B6 at Hamburg Open 2026. The show will b...
12/12/2025
Chaos today announces the release of V-Ray for Blender, update 2, bringing its award-winning rendering technology to even more Blender users by adding support f...
12/12/2025
Lighting specialist UltraLEDs has launched Precision LED Tape, a high-CRI lighting solution designed specifically for professional film, TV, and studio use.
P...
Can ONE Championship Ride the Digital Wave to Domination? CEO Chatri Sityodtong says the content is tailored for mobile devices' and has 2 billion fans By Ken Kerschbaumer, Editorial Director 
